Nifty ends below 8150, Sensex firm; ITC up 3%, metals melt

03:30 pm Market closing: After a major tiff with the bears, the market ended on a higher note. The Sensex was up 116.32 points at 27206.74, and the Nifty was up 24.85 points at 8146.30. About 1671 shares have advanced, 1381 shares declined, and 92 shares were unchanged.

Tata Motors was up 4 percent while ONGC and ITC gained over 3 percent each. Hero Moto and GAIL were other gainers in the Sensex.

Among the laggards were Cipla, BHEL, Tata Steel, Infosys and Hindalco. Metal index was down over 1 percent.

03:00 pm Force Motors in Focus

Shares of Force Motors are locked at 20 percent upper circuit hitting record high at Rs 1184.90 per share.

Investors are bullish on the stock as its management exuded confidence at its annual general meeting (AGM) held in the weekend. The company is expecting its revenues to quadruple in five years with good traction seen in exports. It is looking to increase exports to 15-20 percent from current 5 percent.

The company is also hoping to see good traction for its off-road powerhouse Force Gurkha. The Gurkha launched three years ago, is likely to hit Indian market by September-end. Styled on the lines of the legendary Mercedes G-Wagen, the Gurkha is armed with a powerful Mercedes derived turbo-charged engine. The vehicle with snorkel-exhaust is roughly priced at R 6.5-8.5 lakh per unit.

The company plans to invest Rs 100 crore in domestic business in the next five years and targets revenue of Rs 1,000 crore by 2020. It sees FY15 revenue at Rs 250 crore and plans to break-even in FY15. Thakkar also expects to see a turnaround in EBITDA margin from FY15. EBITDA margins expected to return to 15 percent in the next five years.

The company also plans to expand its export business and introduce more distributors in the US and Europe. He expects the US subsidiary to grow by 30-40 percent this fiscal year. The company is also exploring inorganic opportunities in the US.

02:30pm Silver, Gold Update

Silver’s sell-off extended to a second session on Monday, with the metal tumbling to a four-year low, as investors unwound long positions amid strength in the dollar and the possibility of a sooner-than-expected US rate hike.

Weakness in gold, which fell to its lowest since January and was edging close to breaking below USD 1,200 an ounce, also weighed on silver and other precious metals.

The precious metals group has seen sharp losses in recent days as the dollar index hit a four-year high last week on expectations the world’s biggest economy will see the start of its rate-tightening cycle sooner-than-expected.

02:00pm Equity benchmarks bounced back in afternoon trade supported by ITC, Tata Motors, ONGC and major banks. The Sensex climbed above the 27000 level, up 74.39 points at 27164.81 while the Nifty reclaimed 8100, up 9.80 points at 8131.25.

Commercial vehicle maker Tata Motors topped the buying list, up 4 percent followed by ITC and ONGC with 2.5-3 percent. Major lenders State Bank of India and ICICI Bank jumped over a percent while rival Axis Bank gained 0.8 percent.

However, Cipla kept its top position in the selling list, down 2.5 percent followed by Infosys, HDFC Bank, TCS, Tata Steel, M&M, Sun Pharma, BHEL, Sesa Sterlite, Wipro, NTPC and Hindalco with 0.8-2 percent.